Saturday, March 08, 2014

3 Puppy Chores

I've seen a lot of people on Pinterest talking about age appropriate chores for your young children to teach responsibility and instill a good work ethic. What I haven't seen is when to start puppy chores. Now, I'm no expert, but there are a few things Sean and I ask Lola to do around the house to contribute and I thought I'd share.
Of course, our dog is still young and we will figure out more age appropriate chores as she grows, but the tasks we give to Lola are targeted to dogs between 8-16 weeks. Start off with a few and work your way up! And most of all, keep it age appropriate and try to make it a rewarding experience.

1. Take out the bathroom and bedroom trash
Lola takes out the bathroom and bedroom trash as needed. This is perfect for her because she has a hard time dragging anything over her own body weight. The size of the trash bag is manageable and it's not required daily.

2. Lola is in charge of picking the weeds
This one was actually her idea! One day she went outside and started doing it herself so we thought this might be another great task for her to learn some responsibility while enjoying the great outdoors. (Take note of things your puppy does on their own. This might be their way of telling you they want to help!)

3. Lola sweeps
This can be overwhelming with so much floor space so we usually just have her sweep under the table after we eat. She does a great job!


Some commonly asked questions:

Does this chore list work for all breeds?
Of course! The chores can also be altered depending on the breed though. For example, if you have an Irish Wolfhound puppy, try having them take out the kitchen trash since they tend to be larger than Pom puppies.

Do you pay Lola allowance?
I'm a firm believer in allowance. With dogs though I would suggest not giving money as allowance but maybe a new chew toy at the end of the week or for best results, a little treat as soon as the desired task is completed.

Does Lola ever throw a fit when asked to do her chores?
Yes, I mean, Lola is a typical puppy. I'm not going to lie and say she's happy about it all the time. However, lots of times we will see her trying to get in the trash can and dumping over the garbage without us even requesting. It's a great feeling to know she understands her responsibilities.


Teaching your puppy to pitch in around the house takes patience and consistency but I hope these ideas help other households be on their way!


3 comments:

  1. We have a four month old kitten. Do you have any recommendations as to what chores would be appropriate for her? I'd really like her to start helping around the house.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Have you had your kitten try dusting? I feel like they're such good climbers that it's the perfect chore. Let me know how it works!

      Delete
  2. Haha! I laughed so hard at this!! So cute!

    -J
    Teamstagg.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete

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